Spain Rescues Over 200 Migrants From Mediterranean Sea

About 200 migrants have been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea on Sunday by the Spanish authority as the country’s interior minister headed to Mauritania to try to boost cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration.

211 migrants from 21 different boats in the Strait of Gibraltar were rescued by the Spanish maritime rescue service They will be taken to the port of Algeciras in southwestern Spain, he added.

The latest arrivals come after the rescue service picked up more than 1,200 people attempting the perilous crossing from Morocco to Spain, which has now surpassed Italy as the number one destination for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat.

According to a statement by Spain’s interior ministry, Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska is slated to meet with his Mauritanian counterpart in Nouakchott, the capital of the West African country on Monday to “strengthen cooperation in migration matters and the fight against terrorism”.

Grande-Marlaska describe the influx of Migrant to the region has “a European problem which requires a European solution”, during a fact-finding visit to Algeciras on Saturday to learn how police and the Red Cross were coping with the influx of migrants.

The minister said the government is doing all it can to open “a centre” in the port of Andalusia with room for 600 people.

As a crackdown by Libyan authorities has made it more difficult for migrants to reach Italy, many are attempting the trip from Algeria and Morocco into Spain.

More than 19,580 people have landed on Spanish shores so far this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.